Travel fellowships for science journalists

Robert Irion, director emeritus of the science journalism program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a member of the local organizing committee for the World Conference of Science Journalists 2017, alerted us to an exciting opportunity for international science journalists. He graciously offered to do a write up detailing the opportunity. Please note the application deadline in March 15.

madagascar_5349

 
World Conference of Science Journalists 2017 offers travel fellowships to international journalists and students

In October 2017, the biennial World Conference of Science Journalists will meet in the United States for the first time. The conference, set for October 26-30 in San Francisco, will attract 1,200 science writers from around the world for workshops on science journalism, talks by leading researchers, and science-based field trips.

Meeting organizers have announced a travel fellowship program to offset costs for international journalists and students who otherwise would not be able to attend the meeting. Recipients will receive full travel expenses, lodging, and free meeting registration. The organizers especially encourage established and new journalists from developing countries to apply for fellowships.

Journalists may apply for a General Travel Fellowship if they write, edit, or produce science news, information, or commentary for the public; teach science journalism; or are a member of a World Federation of Science Journalists member association, and would not be able to attend the conference without financial assistance.

In addition to conference-only fellowships, a limited number of participants will be awarded fellowships that guarantee seats in pre-conference workshops in addition to generous travel funding. Fellowship applicants can register their interest in two programs during the application process:

* A workshop for journalists who cover basic science or would like to improve their basic science knowledge.

* A workshop for science journalists in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Student Travel Fellowship program will provide special training, mentoring, editing, and publication opportunities for students interested in writing, editing, or producing science news, information, or commentary for the public as a career. Priority for these fellowships will be given to U.S. and international students at the undergraduate level, although graduate students in the sciences or early-career writers without access to formal training programs in journalism also are welcome to apply.

All student fellows will attend a pre-conference training workshop with veteran science journalists to discuss the basics of covering science news. Each fellow will write two articles about sessions during the conference: one on a science session and one on a science writing panel discussion. Volunteer editors will work with each student fellow on revisions.

The training workshop and all meeting sessions will be conducted in English, and all stories will be written in English. The WCSJ2017 news site will publish articles by the travel fellows, including their bylines, in English and translated into Spanish.

Application deadline is March 15, 2017. Winners will be notified by April 15 to leave enough time for travel arrangements to San Francisco.

For full details, please see: http://wcsj2017.org/about/fellowships